george lewis joins us now, it looks like mars is where you are, george. >> it is surreal, lester. the sun is blautded out by thick smoke, and this play, summerville, along with eager, are under a new evicuation order. everybody told to get out, this as firefighters battle to save the homes around here. the fire just keeps growing and growing. and firefighters say there's very little they can do to contain it right now. >> these are east of greer. >> many of the 2500 people on the fire lines have been busyieg backfires to protect from the monster blaze, even as the winds kicked up again. >> they're doing a good job of corralling what they can. >> all of their hard work can be mainlined by the strong wind. >> it's a big deal. we have to really watch the clouding and pay attention to where the winds are going. sdwr it's the afternoons and evenings that bring the worst conditions. >> red-flag warnings are posted for 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 pmg. that's when the winds are the highest. >> just last night, residents of sou sou south eager, arizona, got the order to head out of home. as they he

we begin with george lewis live in springerville, arizona, with the latest on the out of control wildfiresinment for a week. what is happening there? >> reporter: well, it is a very difficult situation for the firefigh

here now live, the dramatic backdrop from springerville, arizona, where nbc's george lewis is, to bring us the very latest. george, good evening. >>> lester, that plume of smoke is bearing down on springerville and eagar. the order will go out for springerville if the flames get too close to here. the fire has been roaring aggressively through the mountains on the arizona-new mexico border, threatening towns in its way. >> the smoke covering that entire community. >> reporter: this morning the wind died down long enough for 22 water-dropping helicopters to get airborne, aiding firefighters on the ground. >> this is unprecedented in the way these fires are burning. you know, arizona is so dry that fires just burn like gasoline. >> reporter: it started nine days ago. since then it has spread rapidly day by day, growing into a monster, fueled by dry brush and rotting trees, driven by winds gusting up to 60 miles an hour. last evening law enforcement ordered people living in greer, arizona to get out of town. >> yeah, we're leaving right now. >> reporter: in the larger cities of springervil

george lewis from eager, arizona. >> reporter: the largest fire in arizona, known as the wallow fire, has been burning for over a week now with zero containment. >> huge flames on the south side. >> reporter: that's because it's in rugged terrain with plenty of dry wood and brush to fuel it. driven by dry winds and hot temperatures. >> we have been dry out in the southwest area over here, so we're creating a perfect storm of dry fuels, intense weather. >> reporter: a dozen water dropping helicopters were grounded today because of the high winds. over the weekend, they worked to keep flames away from the smaller arizona towns in the fire's path as law enforcement age agencies required people to evacuate in some of those areas. in greer, where people were getting ready to leave, mark peterson has 5,000 head of sheep to sheer. if the wind changes, he and his sheep will have to get out of here in a hurry. >> if we have to vacate, we'll have to walk them back out to the northeast. that's kind of what our plan is right now. >> reporter: in case anybody needed reminding, dick bruno put up a

the firefighters in this camp are going to have their work cut out for them this week. >> george lewis, and you heard the fire alarms in arizona. thanks. >>> in the upper blain states tonight, it's the opposite problem, water and too much of it. six channels along the missouri river are full and there are more to come with records snowpack melting. now they're releasing some of the water in seven different states. miguel almaguer is at a crucial dam in minnesota. that's an incredible sight behind you. >> reporter: it certainly is. the massive flow behind me is the reason the mississippi could flood. some 700,000 gallons are pouring out behind me every second. there's too much to hold back, and although the rainbow bp hiepd me is beautiful, it's an eyesore of danger down the river. >> surging and fast, the missouri river is threatening to top levees and break banks. it's forced the power plant to declare a low-level maersh. meanwhile, in the dakotas, 20,000 people have been asked to evacuate. steve has lived long the river for 33 years. >> it's hard to take at my age. i'm 78, and i can'

brian. >> george lewis near the fire lines in eager, arizona. thanks. >>> in the upper plain states tonight, the opposite problem. water and way too much of it. six reservoirs among the mississippi river are full, and there's more to come from record levels of the snowpack that is now melting. now they're releasing some of the water, and seven different states are on a flood watch as a result. miguel almaguer is at a crucial dam in minnesota. that's an incredible sight behind you, miguel. >> reporter: brian, it certainly it. the flow behind me is why so much of the missouri could flood. some 700,000 gallons are pouring out per second. although the rainbow behind me is beautiful, tonight, there is dangerous downriver. surging and still weeks from its crest, the missouri river is threatening to toppleloves and break banks. in nebraska, high water has forced this nuclear power plant to declare a low-level emergency. meantime, in the dakotas, 20,000 people have been asked to evacuate. steve kokish have lived along the river for 37 years. >> it's har

let's get ride to nbc's george lewis on the scene for us in springerville, arizona. george?tin, we're here in eastern arizona, scene of the largest fire known as the wallow fire. it's approaching the 200,000 acre mark as we speak and it is the third largest fire in arizona history. they have about 1,300 people here on the fire lines, a dozen helicopters dropping water, but so far it's been an uphill battle for the firefighters because of a number of factors. first of all, high temperatures and high winds. the winds expected to gust to 50 miles an hour this afternoon. and the forecast for the next couple days looks like more of the same. so it's going to be a very difficult situation for firefighters. add on to that a third factor, there's a lot of dry fuel on the ground. we've had drought conditions here in the west for a number of years, so the trees and the brush are extremely dry. you add the wind and the temperature to that and you've got perfect conditions for a conflagration. and arizona is now experiencing that, particularly the mountain communities along highway 180.

nbc's george lewis is in springerville, arizona. >> lester, the firefighters are awfully worried about the forecast, calling for a return of the high winds that fanned the flames and caused so much devastation. tonight, they're trying to get ready. by night, it's a monster inferno, lighting up the new mexico and arizona skies. by day, a path of destruction in its wake. 22 houses have burned in greer, arizona. >> this is hard to watch. >> reporter: harder to watch if you see your destroyed home on tv. >> ours was the first home that we saw that was burned. rrtd at a meeting for people forced out of the fire zone, connie tried to count her blessings. >> we're thankful no lives were lost. our prayers are for the firefighters. >> reporter: those firefighters face a difficult weekend ahead. if the wind picks up as expected, it could drive the flames into the communities that have been calm so far. firefighters have been busy building backfires and barriers to protect the homes. they have been lucky today, but tomorrow will be a battle. >> it will have all of the conditions for a fire growth

george lewis has details. george, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. jaycee dugard did not appear in court, instead, in a statement read on her behalf directed at the ga' rooe does she said, "i chose not to be here because i refuse to waste another second of my life in your presence." and her eyes filled with tears, read the statement on behalf of her daughter. the judge did not permit audio recordings. in statement, jaycee dugard told the garridos, "i hated every second of every day of 18 years. you stole my life and that of my family." addressing nancy garrido, she said, "to facilitate his behavior and trick young girls for his pleasure is evil. there is no god in the universe that would condone your actions." jaycee dugard spent much of her time in a ramshackle compound of sheds and tents behind the garrido house in northern california. it was here that she bore two daughters, fathered by phillip garrido. >> the fact of the matter is that a barely 11-year-old child was abducted off the street for purposes of being a sexual slave. >> reporter: in new

we've got two reports beginning in arizona with nbc's george lewis. george, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. these are monster fires burning in arizona. over a quarter million acres scorched, 2,100 people on the fire lines. thousands of homes threatened. >> we just dropped the line up -- >> reporter: firefighters spent the weekend attacking the fast-moving blaze from the air. the dense and rugged forest has made it difficult for ground crews to get equipment into the area. officials say this particular wildfire near the new mexico border has been unusually hard to get a handle on. >> it's mostly in the way it's behaving. it's such that we can't get anywherenary it. it's such -- anywhere near it. it's such that our resources are a limited value because we need people on the ground even using the air resources that we have. >> anybody who's not critical personnel stay off of 191 and 180. >> reporter: sunday afternoon the fire jumped highway 180 into the town of esqudea. >> it's a wilderness area, there's no fire treatment. it is goin

. >> and that was george lewis reporting. now here at home, if your weekend plans include a trip to santa cruz, you'll need to plan around construction on highway 17. caltrans crews are building a new drainage system and resurface the highway. that will affect the traffic in the early morning hours and late night hours through december. >>> downtown oakland is going through a renaissance of sorts, a few years ago the fox theater opened it's doors after a 40-year hiatus. one new place that just opened it's doors is rudy's can't fail caf cafe. it is a diner that is interesting to say the least. the wall is full of barbie dolls and home made tables are filled with funky curiosities. >> it was just a great place where we could all hang out and either get coffee and bring our families and have a good time. >> doug said he is looking forward to playing a huge part in oakland's revival as well as comingve r thetooad a off the place where he can always get a debate meal. ) h ahead today in bay, the a finally break that losing streak,

george lewis is in arizona with the latest. >> chris, these are monster fires in arizona. more than a quarter million acres scorched so far and 2100 people on the fire lines and thousands of homes threatened. >> we bumped the lineup. >> firefighters spent the weekend attacks a blaze from the air. rugged force made it difficult for them to get equipment into the area. officials say this particular wildfire near the border has been unusually hard to get a handle on. >> it's mostly in the way it's made. it sets that we can't get anywhere near it. it sets that our resources are a limited value we need people on the ground even with the air resources we have. >> stay on 191 and 180. >> on sunday afternoon, the fire jumped into the town of escodilla. >> it's a wilderness area and there is treatment on the area. it will be a hot fire. >> for swept through bieber creek ranch and destroyed several vacation cabins. day likes more like night in alpine. >> it feels surreal. >> worry mandatory evacuations ordered throughout the area, police escorted residents back home on sunday, allow

nbc's george lewis has the story. >> reporter: by night it's a monster inferno lighting up the arizonaand new mexico skies. by day a dull gray path of destruction in its wake. 22 houses have burned in greer, arizona. sfoo this is really hard to watch. >> reporter: harder to watch if you see your destroyed home on tv. >> it was the first home that we saw that was burned. >> reporter: at a meeting for people forced out of the fire zone, connie tried to count her blessings. >> we're thankful that no lives were lost. you know, our prayers are for the firefighters. >> reporter: those firefighters face a difficult weekend ahead. if the wind picks up as expected, it could bring these flames into communities that have sure vooifd so far. they've been busy setting back furz and creating barriers to protect homes in the mountain villages. they know today will bring a real battle. >> it's going to have all the conditions necessary. >> reporter: as the fire grows, it isn't affecting just people. these elk are on the run from the heat and smoke. and then there are domesticated animals like this dog

. >> george lewis, thank you for starting us off. now if we go from fire to floods, the army corps of engineers says a partial breach appeared on a levee along the missouri west in northwest missouri. a record flow of water surging right now from dams upstream and that's where nbc's miguel almaguer joins us from pier, south dakota. what are you seeing in terms of what is happening there, about this second breach. we're getting some reports about that. >> reporter: clearly the army corps of engineers is concerned about those breaches. there is two. one in iowa that seemed to be more of a minor breach, maybe a few inches wide, and then the one in missouri that is said to be up to 15 feet wide, that clearly is going to be an issue for the corps as they determine how to plug that hole. the reports are coming out of there, still relatively early at this point. we don't know how many homes, if any, have been damaged. but we would assume that more people are being evacuated from low lying lands around that area. all of this is being compoun

george lewis is in springerville, arizona, with the latest on that. hi, george. good morning. >> good morning, matt. behind me is a huge sky crane elevator used to drop water on the fire. overnight on the ground, crews worked to create a barrier to protect eager, arizona. the southern half of eager now under an evacuation order. as the fire continued to spread driven by high winds, people in its path headed to safe ground. the south half of the town of eager, arizona, the latest place to come under an evacuation order. >> we've got to get out of here. >> reporter: the carillos are lifelong residents. >> real hard. >> we just built this house two years ago. >> reporter: they rounded up their children, dogs and cats and left. others were wrangling larger animals. david boyd, a rodeo clown, uses these bulls in his performance. he and his wife were headed north to a friend's place. >> we've got friends in st. johns. we'll take the bulls there and try to stay safe. >> reporter: all the while praying that somehow their property will be spared. overhead the huge pall of

nbc's george lewis joins us from arizona. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. the governors of arizona and new mexico put national guard units on standby to assist in the fire zones, this as 22 homes have been burned. the biggest concern is the mountain retreat of greer. firefighters are setting back fires and trying to construct barriers to save the community. six structures were burned. >> the winds are out of the west. >> reporter: firefighters expect more favorable wind conditions today as heavy gusts that were driving the fire have died down. 16 helicopters have been filling up with water to douse the flames. they are joined by a dc-10 tanker known as the supersoaker. 11,000 people in arizona have been displaced from their homes. 200 miles of highway are shut down. elsewhere, power lines from the palo verde nuclear plant near phoenix are of concern. those lines run through the fire shown in this nasa photo. if they are damaged, hundreds of thousands of people in texas and new mexico could be subjected to rolling blackouts. the head of the u.s. forest servi

george washington moving west. what is interesting about it is the image of lewis and clark here is in black and white, something that is occurring in the future, painted as though it was in the past. what is interesting about it is the very obvious conclusion of slavery. the number of students were expressing unease around some of the themes. the additional mural would be placed in the school, one with more positive representation of the student body. in 1974, they completed three panels that were placed in the library -- in the lobby. they depict native, latino, asian american, and african- american heritage and culture. >> that artist was talking about the history coming alive. that is what we want for the students here. i also think they might share that with past alumni and the community, so they could no the treasure that we have here in the schools. many people have the same experience i did when i first walked into this building three years ago, being the new principal. the grandeur of these murals is fantastic. many of the students who have come here have come here and are very proud of these murals. they're